Reply by jeffthewoodwacker

Having been in retail for 37 years I can tell you that a lot of returns are destroyed. A lot of vendors give a defective allowance as part of their agreement with the retailer. Some returned items end up at Goodwill stores, some in other salvage stores, a lot end up destroyed. The defective agreement usually states that if an item is to be destroyed it must be crushed or put in a totally inoperable condition. If a HD shipping/receiving employee was getting items out of the dumpster they were in all likelihood breaking company policy. As unbelieveable as it may seem even paperback books are destroyed – if they are pulled from the racks the cover is stripped off and the books is compacted or baled.

-- Those that say it can't be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.